2 BACK STAB
William, supposedly dying, smiled maniacally. "We got him."
Francesco was completely distracted, busily trying to heal his only student, his full concentration on him, unaware of the shadows moving rapidly toward him.
"Mas...ter, res... serve your... *Cough!! Cough!!!*" William struggled to speak as he was supposedly choked by his own blood.
Francesco, who looked at his student painfully, said, "Don't speak; I will..."
He was cut mid-sentence as his battle instincts kicked in, instantly ducking to escape a dagger aimed at his neck.
He, in turn, stopped healing William, picked up a nearby sword, and parried another attack aimed at his neck, his head still not turned away from William.
He finally turned as he felt the number of assailants increase behind him.
His gaze met the dark goggles of his assailants clad in hooded black robes, you know, those worn by assassins and those seeking to hide their identity.
Ten figures stood before him, all armed with daggers, hesitating despite outnumbering him ten to one.
Francesco's eyes filled with rage as he looked at the small fries who dared to ruin his party and wound his student, worse yet, they even killed the king.
He was too filled with rage to think if he had thought carefully about it that day he would not have met his end. That is good news for me as Ossa became the god of death because of his death so I guess it wasn't all that bad.
Had he considered it, he would have realized that such a small fry couldn't kill the soldiers of Flagrare and Flamma, as they were veterans who had fought against the general of the demon army.
Francesco, still filled with rage, pointed his finger at one of the assailants, their head exploding into a bloody mist.
The next one rushed towards him, teeth gritted, knowing he would die but choosing to fight rather than run. The other eight joined him as they charged towards the furious Francesco.
"You filth don't deserve to die peacefully..." Francesco muttered, his voice choked by anger, gritting his teeth in frustration.
He wanted to move, break their limbs, gouge their eyes, cut off their tongue, torment them, push their souls out of their bodies, and boil them in lava. He wanted to move, but if he did, William, his supposedly injured and on the verge of dying student, might be hit.
The student, believed to be on the verge of death, slowly stood up, his wounds miraculously healed.
As Francesco faced the assailants, unmoving from his spot, William crept closer, armed with a short dagger intricately decorated with light elemental patterns. He literally backstabbed his master.
"Argh!!!" The unsuspecting Francesco screamed in pain, slowly turning to look at the culprit.
He turned, his black eyes meeting the equally black eyes of his student, who was perfectly fine and had a dagger to his back.
Whether by shock, disbelief or just a simple delay in counterattacking, he just asked, "Why?"
Responding with a wicked, maniacal smile, William pushed the dagger in, a crackling sound reverberating through the room as Francesco's vertebral column was broken.
The sudden push and rush of pain finally caused him to counterattack, bursting out a torrent of dark mana, pushing William and the remaining assailant back.
The torrential burst of dark energy, darker than the blackest abyss, gently fell to the ground, spreading it and slowly turning into a pitch-black carpet, one that looked like the abyss itself.
Skeletal hands bounced the light from the magic barrier as they slowly climbed out of the black abyss, from skeleton foot soldiers to mighty bone dragons to the powerful lich, numbering in thousands.
They continued to climb out, their sheer numbers collapsing the mansion to make room.
"How is he still able to do that," William thought to himself, standing safely on the other side of the barrier. He had teleported as soon as he was hit with the torrential dark mana.
"He should be weakened by the barrier; don't fret... Gather your forces and attack him," Lux Kingdom's great king shouted as he mounted a snow-white horse, clad in light golden armor, himself and the horse.
"Yes, Your Highness... For the glory of our kingdom," William shouted as he mounted his horse, a black stallion clad in the same armor as he was.
Soldiers numbering in hundreds roared as they followed him into the barrier.
The other generals present also commanded their armies as they rushed into the light barrier, armed to attack their hero.
In all, they numbered a total of 12,640 soldiers, all armed and ready to attack one man, not counting the mages who stood outside the barrier, ready to assist the army.
Meanwhile, the injured Francesco lay on a makeshift bed of bones, his commander, the lich, tending to his wounds but failing miserably as in the light every magic it tried to use will just dissipated.
"Why..."
"What is going on..."
"How"
"Is this a dream..."
"A nightmare maybe"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Francesco's thoughts raced, unwilling to accept the reality of the matter.
Just think about it. You are one loved and revered by all, and all of a sudden, they attack you and when you also think about it, you have not given them a reason to. How would you feel about it?
Confused
Shocked
Surprised
'Shockprised'
Betrayed
Vengeful
A mix of emotions that would be enough to make you mad.
That was how Francesco felt, and the more he thought about it, the more he saw that this whole party was a disguise to prepare for his death, a disguise to annihilate him.
"So they were all in on this... Everything I have done, *Cough!! Cough!!!*, for you," Francesco exclaimed as he saw the army of more than ten thousand soldiers rushing towards him.
He tried to look beyond the light barrier that had dimmed considerably due to the dark energy of his army, numbering in the thousands. His army was once more than a thousand, almost reaching half a million when he was in his best condition. Due to the light and his injuries, he was only able to summon about a thousand, and even that was done involuntarily.
"WHY?" Francesco shouted at the top of his lungs, causing him to cough violently, blood spraying his bone bed.
"WHY?!, YOU ASK . .. WHY?! ... LOOK FOR YOURSELF, AN ARMY NEEDS TO FIGHT ONE PERSON ... " the king's voice echoed in the light barrier.
"YOU BETRAY ME BECAUSE YOU FEAR ME?!!!"
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